Summer Reading Suggestions for Intermediate Level ESL Students

Aldrich, Bess S. A Lantern in Her Hand - A woman endures the difficulties of frontier life and raises her children to be ambitious.

Armstrong, William Sounder - Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young African American boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read.

Beatty, Patricia Lupita Manana - To help her poverty-stricken family, 13-year-old Lupita enters California as an illegal alien and starts to work while constantly on the watch for “la migra.”

Brooks, Bruce The Moves Make the Man - A black boy and an emotionally troubled white boy in North Carolina form a precarious friendship.

Bunting, Eve SOS Titanic - A boy traveling from Ireland to America aboard the Titanic finds his life endangered when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink.

Chang, Margaret In the Eye of War - During the final days of the Japanese occupation of China, Shao-shao celebrates his birthday and traditional holidays with his family, and befriends the daughter of a traitor.

Chen, Da Wandering Warrior - A boy, who is destined to become the future emperor of China, is trained by a wise monk in the ways of the kung fu wandering warriors.

Clark, Ann Secret of the Andes - An Indian boy who tends llamas in a hidden valley in Peru learns the traditions and secrets of his Inca ancestors.

Cleaver, Vera Where the Lilies Bloom - In the Great Smoky Mountains region, a fourteen-year-old girl struggles to keep her family together after their father dies.

Crew, Linda Children of the River - Having fled Cambodia four years earlier to escape the Khmer Rouge army, seventeen-year-old Sundara is torn between remaining faithful to her own people and enjoying life in her Oregon high school as a “regular” American.

Desai Hidier, Tanuja Born Confused - A young woman from India, discovers that she is not Indian enough for the Indians and not American enough

Duncan, Lois I Know What You Did Last Summer - After an accident on a winding road, four teens dump their victim's body into the sea. But one year later, the dead man returns and he's looking for more than an apology.

Feng, Chi-ts`ai Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom - A talented young Beijing artist is sent to a remote factory during the Cultural Revolution. Far from friends and family, he manages to survive physically and spiritually.

Fritz, Jean Homesick, My Own Story - The author's fictionalized version, though all the events are true, of her childhood in China during the 1920's.

Gardner, Mary Boat People - A community of newly arrived Vietnamese struggle to maintain a balance between Vietnam and America.

George, Jean C. Julie of the Wolves - While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, an Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.

George, Jean C. My Side of the Mountain - Living alone in the mountains, a young boy struggles for survival by depending on nature and his animal friends, but ultimately realizes that he needs human companionship.

Gibbons, Kaye Ellen Foster - An abused child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.

Greene, Bette Morning Is a Long Time Coming - While on her way to Germany, a young woman stops in Paris and experiences her first love affair.

Greene, Bette Summer of My German Soldier - Sheltering an escaped German prisoner of war is the beginning of some shattering experiences for a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Arkansas.

Guest, Judith Ordinary People - An emotional and realistic account of a youth’s breakdown and how it affects his family.

Hautzig, Esther The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia - During World War II, the author and her family were exiled to Siberia. This fictionalized account retells the hardships of their five years spent on the harsh Asian steppe.

Ho, Minfong Rice without Rain - After social rebels convince the headman of a small village in northern Thailand to resist the land rent, his daughter is caught up in the student uprising in Bangkok.

Holm, Anne North to Freedom - After escaping from an Eastern European concentration camp, where he had spent most of his life, a boy struggles to cope with an entirely strange world as he flees.

Hotze, Sollace A Circle Unbroken - Captured by Sioux Indians and raised as the chief’s daughter, Rachel is recaptured by her original family and finds it hard to adjust, longing to return to the tribe.

Keller, Helen The Story of My Life – Autobiography of a blind and deaf girl who overcomes her limitations.

Kincaid, Jamaica Annie John - Coming of age on Antigua, a young girl rebels and leaves her island home.

Kogawa, Joy Itsuka - The story of Japanese Canadians who fought to get government compensation for their internment during World War II.

Lachtman, Ofelia D. The Girl from Playa Blanca - When Elena and her little brother leave their Mexican seaside village to search for their immigrant father in Los Angeles, they encounter crime, mystery and friendship.

London, Jack Call of the Wild - The adventures of an unusual, stolen dog that wound up in the Yukon Territory and became leader of a wolf pack.

Lowry, Lois The Giver - Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Magorian, Michelle Good Night, Mr. Tom - An abused child learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during the Second World War.

O’Dell, Scott Island of the Blue Dolphins - Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind.

O’Dell, Scott My Name Is Not Angelica - Relates the experiences of a young Senegalese girl brought as a slave to the Danish owned Caribbean island of St. John as she participates in the slave revolt of 1733.

O’Dell, Scott The Road to Damietta - A young 13^th century Italian noblewoman, watches as Francis of Assisi turns from his life of wealth and privilege, takes vows of poverty, and devotes himself to serving God by helping all those around him.

Paterson, Katherine Bridge to Terabithia - The friendship between two young people grows, as they meet in their secret hiding place, only to end in tragedy.

Raskin, Ellen The Westing Game - The mysterious death of a millionaire brings together an unlikely group of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

Richter, Conrad The Light in the Forest - Born in a frontier town, a four-year-old boy is captured and then adopted by Indians. When he returns to his original family at the age of fifteen, he no longer knows where he belongs.

Rinaldi, Ann Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons - Phillis Wheatley, as a child, was brought to eighteenth century United States as a slave and became famous throughout the colonies as an important black American poet.

Schami, Rafik Hand Full of Stars - A teenager who wants to be a journalist in a suppressed society describes to his diary his daily life in his hometown of Damascus, Syria.

man considered a witch by the community and suddenly

Staples, Suzanne F. Haveli - Having relented to the ways of her people in Pakistan and married the rich older man to whom she was pledged against her will, Shabanu is now the victim of his family’s blood feud and the malice of his other wives. This novel is a sequel to Shabanu.

Staples, Suzanne F. Shabanu - When eleven-year-old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man she must either accept the decision, as is the custom or risk the consequences of defying her father’s wishes.

Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - A black family living in the South during the 1930’s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which their children don’t understand.

Trevino, Elizabeth I, Juan de Pareja - The slave, who prepares the paints and canvases of the 17th century artist Velazquez, describes his work with his master and the climate of Spanish court life.

Uchida, Yoshiko The Happiest Ending - When twelve-year-old Rinko learns that a neighbor’s daughter is coming from Japan to marry a stranger twice her age, she sets out to change this arrangement and gains new insights into love and adult problems.

Wartski, Maureen A Boat to Nowhere - Fleeing from the new communist government in Vietnam, an old man and three children begin an endless and seemingly hopeless struggle for survival as boat people.

Whelan, Gloria Angel on the Square - In 1913 Russia, a girl looks forward to joining her mother, a lady in waiting in the household of Tsar Nicholas II; but the years that follow bring world war and revolution.

Whelan, Gloria Goodbye, Vietnam - Mai and her family embark on a dangerous sea voyage from Vietnam to Hong Kong to escape the unpredictable and often brutal Vietnamese government.

Whelan, Gloria Homeless Bird - When Koly enters an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India’s tradition or find the courage to oppose it.

Wilder, Laura Little House on the Prairie - A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a house, meet neighboring Indians, build a well, and fight a prairie fire.

Woodson, Jacqueline If You Come Softly - A black teenage boy whose parents are separated and a white girl whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people’s reactions.